CASE Nord University in Norway

Nord University – transition from polytechnic to university with the support of a professional information services provider

Norway’s Bodø University College became a university in the beginning of 2011. Operational investment in the University of Nordland which subsequently changed to Nord University in 2016, included the expansion of the library’s resources, as both students and researchers must be able to access the relevant and up-to-date international resources in all fields. LM Information Delivery has been working with the Library since 2010, played a key role in the library’s transformation.

The library of the new university, located at the coast, has developed both its resources and its services to meet to the needs of the academic community. In addition to printed resources, databases, e-books and around 17,000 electronic journals are also available. Of the library’s 2010s serials budget around 70 percent was allocated to electronic resources. For this reason, two of the library’s sixteen employees are now specialist in working with e-resources. Library staff believe that the remote use of electronic resources will increase in the future.

“The traditional library will continue to exist, but not necessarily in the same form in which we know it today,” comments Head Librarian Heidi Pedersen from the University of Nordland.

Heidi Pedersen says that the university has also increased the amount of training provided. Training in the use of electronic resources is provided for students, researchers and library employees.

“We always need to be alert, as customer expectations have increased. Resources and services must be at an academic level, and the library employees have indeed worked diligently to achieve the objectives.”

Information services provider chosen based on professionalism

According to Heidi Pedersen, the library expects high-quality service and expertise from its information services provider. The library also considers it important that they can receive customer service in Norwegian.
Through LM Information Delivery the library has procured a subscription management service whose printed and electronic journals can be ordered for the library through one service provider. This way, time previously used to contact publishers is saved, the filing of complaints is made easier and centralized invoices arrive at agreed intervals.

Some of the library employees’ work also moving to the web

According to Heidi Pedersen, the most important trend in the library industry at the moment is undoubtedly the increase in the use of e-resources.

“The shift has been slower for resources in the humanities, and a lot of printed content continues to be in use. Even so, the current direction is toward e-resources becoming more commonplace, and the remote use of resources, for instance, is also becoming more common. Students study more and more at home.”

The rise in the use of electronic resources also has an impact on the skills and functions of library staff. While we used to work a lot with traditional customer service and printed resources, more and more time is now spent in front of a computer.

“Communication has also shifted partly to the web and the social media, for instance. But I do hope that 10 years from now library users will still visit the library, and that not all customer service will have moved to the web.”

Benefits:

Facilitates the day-to-day work of library personnel and the management of resources.

“Electronic resources are on the increase, and the remote use of resources is becoming more commonplace. Resources must be accessible from anywhere.”

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